The present invention relates generally to agricultural harvesting machines having crop harvesting headers, such as combines, and, more particularly to harvesting machines having a reel positioned above a cutting mechanism for assisting in feeding of crop material through the harvesting header.
Many harvesting headers employ a rotary reel to assist with crop movement into the cutting mechanism. The reel, including a plurality of tine bars having axially spaced tines therealong, guides the crop material to be harvested towards a cutter bar extending between header sidewalls, and the cut crop is transported on a draper or auger transport arrangement into the harvester for further processing. The tine bars are mounted for pivotal movement about a respective tine bar axis generally parallel to a reel rotational axis. A cam, typically mounted between the sidewall and an end of the rotary reel, in cooperation with linkages to each tine bar, controls the pivotal movement of the tine bars and thus the angular orientation of the tines thereon. As the rotary reel rotates, the tines on each tine bar follow a predetermined path defined by the cam for lifting, separating, and guiding crop material towards the cutter bar and beyond. The reel may also be supported by a plurality of reel arms which enable adjustment of the position of the reel in relation to the cutterbar. The reel position may be adjusted vertically and/or in a fore-aft direction to provide optimal movement of the crop material.
Experience with some crop harvesting headers shows that certain crops are prone to improper flow near the outboard ends of the crop reel due to interaction with the cam and the reel arm. One solution to the problem is to shift the lateral position of the reel arm to a position outboard of the header sidewall so that the reel end and cam may be positioned as close as possible to the sidewall. This design generally increases the lateral width of the sidewall increases crop knock down (waste) as the sidewall width increases. An alternative design splits the reel into two or more portions and relocates the cams and a supporting reel arm to an inboard position between adjacent reel portions. Such a design requires two cams (one for each reel portion) and supporting structure needed to connect the cams to a reel arm. The resulting structure creates a dead zone in the reel width (gap between adjacent reel portions) of approximately 8 inches and effectively relocates the crop flow problems from the outboard ends of the reel to the center cam location.
It would be a great advantage to provide reel arm with an integral reel cam for a crop harvesting header having a narrow lateral profile allowing placement of the cam between the outboard reel ends without adversely affecting crop movement into the header. Additional advantages would be realized by an integral reel arm and reel cam that is compatible with existing reel arm lifting and reach adjustment mechanisms installed on the header. Further advantages would be realized by an integral reel arm and reel cam that could also be positioned on the outboard ends of the reel to reduce the width of the non-crop processing portion of the header ends.